Sweat drips down my forehead and back as the hot oppressing sun beats down on us as my teammates and I ride in the back of the truck to our ministry site last Saturday morning. We dodge other cars and mopeds as we pass by children playing on the sidewalk. Some of the kids are wearing rags, others nothing at all. Some girls have cute dresses and almost all of them are skinny. We finally arrive at Ninas house so we can go and invite the neighborhood kids to come play. My team of 7 splits into 2 teams as we spread the word, only to find out some kids are already waiting for us at the basketball courts.
We head that direction still inviting kids, thinking we would only have 15-20 kids this morning. As we pass by this amazing playground with bright red and yellow tubes, ladders, all kinds of slides and other fun kid play things we realize no one is playing in there. We round the corner to the basketball court and see about 35 kids yelling and playing, waiting for us. We are happily greeted by a mob of children, who soon follow us onto the basketball court.
It takes us a few minutes to organize ourselves and to try to figure out how we are going to entertain this rambunctious group of kids. We start playing follow the leader in hopes that all the kids would enjoy playing.
As the lines moves there is pushing, shoving, yelling, laughter and lots of smiles. After a few minutes we end that game and institute a no talking signal of a hand in the air. Most of the kids caught on.
We played a few more games and even did a relay race where we separated the kids into 5 groups. My group of kids ranged from 4 years to about 12, and they all had trouble grasping the concept of a relay race. At one point the little 4 year old was tagged to run next and he was just standing there. I tried to get him to start running and then all of a sudden the very large husky 12 year old boy comes behind him and shoves him forward. He was able to get about 3 steps in before he fell.
He didn’t cry, but it made me so mad this kid just shoved him so hard. Of course I went and picked up the little boy after giving a glare to the 12 year old. By this time the relay was was dissolving and the kids were out of control once again. There was punching, shoving, screaming, crying and just your typical out of control group of kids.
We sat them down so we could perform our short drama then read them a bible story in hopes that some small seeds could maybe be planted in their hearts. Most of them paid attention while a few were being obnoxious and having arguments. We finally ended the playdate with a prayer and some candy. Most of the kids demanded a sucker instead of a few hard candies. Many came to us two or three times trying to get more while hiding their other hand full of candy. We finally had to put the candy away.
Our escape vehicle finally arrived and we packed up to leave. It was then we found out this particular neighborhood is rough. Most of these kids have fathers that are in prison, or they are dead. Our escape vehicle shouldn’t have been an escape. That was exactly where we needed to be. We prayed that what we taught and did that day would make an impact even though we are pretty sure they weren’t listening. I pray they were. Even though that was a rough morning, it was good.
I am blessed to have a great family and an amazing father. These kids didn’t know any better. They don’t know how to treat others with respect. They do what they see, and if they have no family life they learn from the other kids. This is heartbreaking. But this is why we are here.
This month has been amazing and I am so grateful that we’ve had so many opportunities to minister and to get to know people and to really make an impact. I write this as we are on our way to our first debrief. We are preparing to go to Haiti and I have no clue what to expect there. But I know I will be leaving the Dominican Republic with a happy heart and lots of great memories filled with kids, families, water filters, rice and beans, waterfalls, the ocean and lots of hugs.
🙂 🙂
